What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?

by CAPP-USA

Homosexuality in the Bible

There is “a clear consistency within the Scriptures themselves on the moral issue of homosexual behavior.” (On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, 5)

Claims “that Scripture has nothing to say on the subject of homosexuality, or that it somehow tacitly approves of it, or that all of its moral injunctions are so culture-bound that they are no longer applicable to contemporary life…are gravely erroneous”. (On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, 4)

Homosexuality in the Old Testament

Homosexual behavior is addressed in Genesis and Leviticus.

In Genesis we find that “God created man in his own image… male and female created he them. And God blessed them, saying: Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.” (Genesis 1:27-28)

Homosexual behavior is a sin against human nature as demonstrated when the men of Sodom are rebuked (Genesis 19:1-11). While seeking to abuse two angels of God, they called to Lot: “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them. Lot went outside to meet them…and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing.” (Genesis 19:24-25).

Leviticus leaves no doubt of the moral judgement made against homosexual relations: “Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.” (Leviticus 18:22)

Leviticus goes further, calling for a heavy price for homosexual behavior: “If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.” (Leviticus 20:13)

Homosexuality in the New Testament

Saint Paul is quite clear on homosexual behavior, warning the Corinthians: “Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Cor 6:9-10

Here, the Old Testament penalty of death established in Leviticus is replaced with an even greater penalty: they will not “inherit the kingdom of God”. Can there be a bigger price than losing eternal repose?

Paul, in writing to the Romans, builds on the laws of Judaism (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13), placing these in the context of the conflict between Christianity and pagan society. He explained how, having “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made” (Genesis 1-22) “God gave them over to shameful passions: their wives replaced natural intercourse with unnatural ones, and so also men…became enflamed with lust for one another, and men committed shameful acts with men and received the deserved reward of their deviation.” (Romans 1:26-27).

In his letter to Timothy, Paul names those who engage in homosexual acts as sinners: “[T]he law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for…the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality…and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God”. (1 Timothy 1:8-11)

Pope St. John Paul II confirms that the Apostle Paul’s warning in 1 Corinthians “places among the ‘mortal sins’, or ‘infamous practices’, certain specific behaviors whose voluntary acceptance prevents believers from sharing in the promised inheritance.” (Veritatis Splendor, 49)